The Effect of Socioeconomic Status on Delinquency Across Urban and Rural Contexts

• Author: Richard H. Lewis,Danielle L. Boisvert,Eric J. Connolly
• Date: 01 September 2017
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016817724200
• Published date: 01 September 2017
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

The Effect of Socioeconomic

Status on Delinquency Across

Urban and Rural Contexts: Using

a Genetically Informed Design

to Identify Environmental Risk

Eric J. Connolly

1

, Richard H. Lewis

1

, and Danielle L. Boisvert

1

Abstract

An extensive line of research has demonstrated that low socioeconomic status (SES) is a risk factor

for adolescent delinquent behavior. The possibility that low SES affects adolescent’s risk for engaging

in delinquent behavior has garnered a significant amount of empirical and public attention, given its

implications for delinquency prevention. However, few studies have examined the association

between low SES and delinquent behavior across urban and rural contexts in the United States.

Moreover, much is unknown about the strength of the association between low SES and delinquency

across urban and rural context after controlling for common genetic liabilities that often cluster

within different levels of SES. The present study aimed to address these existing gaps in the literature

by conducting a genetically informed analysis of sibling pairs from a nationally representative sample

of U.S. youth. The results revealed that shared environmental factors accounted for 17% of the

population variation in adolescent delinquent behavior among adolescents growing up in urban

contexts, and 3% of this family-wide environmental effect was accounted for by SES. No evidence of

a family-wide environmental effect on population variation in delinquent behavior was found among

adolescents from rural contexts. Findings from the present study suggest that the association

between low SES and delinquency in urban contexts in the United States may be a true environ-

mental effect and highlight the utility of using genetically informed research designs to better

understand the extent to which social contexts influence adolescent delinquent behavior.

Keywords

delinquency, socioeconomic status, behavior genetics, urban, rural

1

Department of Crimi nal Justice and Criminology, Coll ege of Criminal Justice, Sam Houst on State University, Huntsville,

TX, USA

Corresponding Author:

Eric J. Connolly, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, College of Criminal Justice, Sam Houston State University,

Huntsville, TX 77340, USA.

Email: ejc025@shsu.edu

Criminal Justice Review

2017, Vol. 42(3) 237-253

ª2017 Georgia State University

Reprints and permission:

sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav

DOI: 10.1177/0734016817724200

journals.sagepub.com/home/cjr

There is considerable evidence to demonstrate that low socioeconomic status (SES) is associated

with negative adolescent outcomes, including poor mental health and increased antisocial and

delinquent behaviors (Devenish, Hooley, & Mellor, 2017; Piotrowska, Stride, Croft, & Rowe,

2015; Reiss, 2013). Several factors common to low SES areas can increase the likelihood of

individuals’ participatio n in delinquent behavior. For ex ample, the lack of monetary abili ty to

acquire needed goods and services can increase delinquent involvement to reduce economic strain

(Agnew, Matthews, Bucher, Welcher, & Keyes, 2008). Other risk factors include parental stress

from raising children in poverty, a lack of parental supervision, living in neighborhoods with

increased concentration of poor schools, and increased exposure to delinquent peers and criminal

gangs (Costello, Keeler, & Angold, 2001). Furthermore, recent research has found that exposure to

environmental toxins such as lead, which has been linked to cognitive deficits and criminal behavior

(Boutwell et al., 2016; Wright et al., 2008), are more common in neighborhoods characterized by

low SES and social disadvantage. Recent events in Flint, Michigan provide a clear example of this

where children in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods experienced the largest increase

in blood lead levels from 2013 to 2015 compared to children in less disadvantaged neighborhood

environments (Hanna-Attisha, LaChance, Sadler, & Shnepp, 2016). Ultimately, an aggregate of

negative factors associated with low SES may accumulate over time to increase the likelihood of

adolescent delinquent behavior and future criminality.

Although a great deal of research has revealed that youth growing up in low SES urban environ-

ments are exposed to weak social institutions (e.g., collective efficacy, community organizations,

and public schooling) and opportunities for offending (e.g., easy access to criminal gangs, lack of

supervision, easy access to firearms), much less is known about whether and to what extent the link

between low SES and delinquency remains for adolescent youth growing up in rural environments.

Only recently have researchers begun to explore the varying eff ects of low SES on adolescent

delinquency across urban and rural contexts. Contemporary research flowing from this body of

work suggests that low SES is indeed associated with delinquent behaviors across both urban and

rural environmental contexts (Bouffard & Muftic, 2006; Jiang, Sun, & Marsiglia, 2016). However,

no research to date has controlled for genetic liabilities that often cluster within families nested

within different levels of SES. Given that variation in antisocial and delinquent behavior has been

found to be heritable (Boisvert, Wright, Knopik, & Vaske, 2012; Connolly & Beaver, 2014; Fergu-

son, 2010; Miles & Carey, 1997; Rhee & Waldman, 2002), it is critical to control for the confound-

ing effects of genetic factors that cluster within families. Using a genetically informed design can

allow for a better understanding of how specific social environments, such as low SES, are impli-

cated in the development of adolescent delinquent behavior across geographic context.

The Link Between Low SES and Delinquent Behavior Across Urban and

Rural Contexts

Considering the concentration of poverty in inner-city environments, many of the early studies

concerning delinquency and low SES focused on urban populations (Bursik, 1988; Sampson, Mor-

enoff, & Earls, 1999). In 1981, Lyerly and Skipper examined differential rates of urban and rural

delinquency and found that males from urban areas were more likely to fall into the highly delin-

quent category. Specifically, of the urban sample, 68%of males were ranked as highly delinquent

while only 32%of the rural males were similarly categorized (Lyerly & Skipper, 1981). Other

studies have shown similar findin gs that when lower socioeconomic ur ban and rural areas are

compared, urban youths exhibit higher levels of delinquency. For instance, Farrell, Sullivan, Espo-

sito, Meyer, and Valois (2005) sampled 667 urban students and 301 rural students as part of a

violence prevention program in middle schools and found that urban students exhibited higher levels

of aggression, drug use, and delinquency compared to rural students. They also found that urban

238 Criminal Justice Review 42(3)